About Jose: Jose is from Ocala, Florida and works as a mitigation specialist for the Florida Forest Service. He received his undergraduate degree in Geography and enrolled in the GIS certificate program to expand his technical skillset in GIS. When not working with GIS, Jose has a passion for cycling and swimming, and what better a place than Florida for those two activities. Welcome to the spotlight Jose!

What we like: In the course of teaching a class, one of the most rewarding events that can happen is to see a student who works really hard and grows and improves in the topic of instruction. In an online-format class, it’s not always easy for a student to demonstrate these qualities in a virtual format. However, Jose Falconett is one such student who has shown him to be driven and successful in a way that has impressed the instructor and the teaching assistant alike. Mr. Falconett has been attended nearly all of the weekly virtual office hours and asked great question during these meetings. He has also been regularly active on the discussion forums with his fellow student showing an impressive level of class participation.

On his lab this week, we liked Jose’s attention to detail on his script and his willingness to ask questions in the difficult parts. Jose is one of the most improved students this semester and has been getting better in not only his labs, but also the write-ups that are required for the graduate students.

Mr. Falconett is in his third semester of the graduate GIS Certificate program. He is professionally employed at the Florida Forest Service. We hope that his new knowledge of python programming helps him to grow in his geospatial career. Congratulations Jose!

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

The 2014 Esri International User Conference was held last week in beautiful San Diego, California. The Online GIS team want to share their personal experiences from the trip. It's great to see that each person took home something different from the conference. Overall it is an awesome feeling to have 16,000 of your professional peers and mentors in one place. There is bound to be a moment when you are so inspired that you literally have to take a moment to collect yourself. With all that said, enjoy the first hand experiences of the 2014 Esri UC.

Leah Lewis: The fun began for me on Saturday with the much smaller
Education Conference. For me, that’s my
favorite. The group is small and there
are a lot of people doing exactly what I’m doing here at UWF. It’s a time for me to get inspired, get
involved and to be quite honest, impress people with what we are doing at
UWF. I attended a session on how to create
a mobile GIS course where instead of textbooks, students were required to
purchase an android tablet. I thought
that was a pretty cool idea and something that I plan to look into here on
campus. Also, I went to several sessions
on web GIS and how many universities are using the platform instead of static
maps. I know here at UWF this is high on
our priority list. I also attended
several round table discussions where instructors and researchers talked about
how make their courses better and how they are keeping their online students
engaged in the materials.

Ahh Moocs. Mooc talk
was everywhere. Anthony Robinson of Penn
State presented his research after his widely successful Mooc at Penn
State. Esri also has a Mooc opening
soon. Well….did you know UWF is developing a Mooc? It was great to
hear about all of the successes and missteps from others. I left those sessions even more excited about
our Mooc (if that is even possible).

I know a lot of you are interested in giving back. You need those contribution points for the GISP
application or you want to make sure that today’s youth are fully able to grasp
geography and maps. If that’s the case,
then you should check out the ConnectEd
Initiative and Esri. Early this
year, Jack Dangermond pledged billions of dollars to schools in the hopes of
having a GIS is all schools. Esri is
looking for people like you to serve as GeoMentors to local youth and teachers. They need our help getting this
implemented in schools. The ConnectEd
website is full of resources, maps, and apps needed to get teachers
excited. Just today, I sent an email to
a friend at the Escambia County District to arrange a meeting with the
superintendent. I’ll keep you posted on
the developments but I have a very good feeling about this. I can’t wait!!

One last thing and I know a lot of you will be interested in
this hot topic. The GISP. The elusive GISP. The exam?
When will it happen? Well, you
heard it here first. In 2015, the exam
will be part of the certification process.
The exam, will not however, replace the current portfolio. So what does that mean? The application process is going to get
tougher. If you are close to being ready
to submit, I would encourage you to do so before the end of 2014. If you need help reviewing your materials, I
would be more than happy to help.

So, that’s just a fraction of my week. It was amazing, awesome, and oh so
exhausting, but I would do it over and over again. The sheer number of GIS people in one place
is mind-blowing at times. I find this to
be really funny considering when I first started in GIS, there were only a couple
of people in my office who were using the software. Last week, I was surrounding by 16,000 of the
coolest mappers I know.

Penelope Mitchell:This was my first time attending ESRI's International User Conference. As the conference rookie, I was in shock and awe nearly the whole time :) The Education Conference kick started the shenanigans. The plenary lectures focused on K-12 challenges and the path and fate of higher education--both topics looking at GIS in a different way. Cindy Marten, Superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District, was an amazing and inspiring speaker. It was very easy to ascertain this woman was very action oriented. Marten spoke upon the use of geographic data to power and measure change within the community, and emphasized using data as a flashlight to guide us forward, rather than a hammer to punish. Anthony Robinson of Penn State spoke upon the high quality of online education and projected that within the next ten years at least one third of higher education enrollees will be in flexible online education programs.

Sunday evening thousands of people began rolling into downtown San Diego. Monday morning, Jack appeared, and the rock show began. To give you an idea, the User Conference Plenary was held in a giant auditorium with wall to wall screens displaying inventive maps and GIS celebrities. The positive energy in the room was contagious—a GIS nerd heaven. Jack (yes, we’re on first name basis), spoke upon global challenges and emphasized the importance of geography to provide a framework to understand the problems. He said it best, “Geography provides the science, web GIS the technology, and geodesign the process”; then called on us to be the architects of the future! Leaders in the GIS industry were then unveiled—teams of GIS professionals using GIS in innovative ways to solve problems and improve, or better yet, create their surroundings. One of my favorites was the Urban Tree Canopy Map from the City of Minneapolis. Their map allowed leaders to understand and appreciate the economic value of the existing tree canopy and enabled them to focus on canopy expansion down to the parcel level. When storms came through and tree damage occurred, canopy adjustments were made, infrastructure damage recorded, stump removal and sidewalk repair was coordinated, and tree replanting organized all in one fell swoop, saving the City hundreds of hours in autonomous site visits, data entry, and fragmented response. Starbucks also gave an interesting talk, providing a sneak peek into how they use GIS for their very sneaky marketing campaigns—a store in Memphis was highlighted (yes, Brittney had to give a shout out), showing how demographic data including spending ability was partnered with weather data so they knew down to the weekly level just when to lay heavy on their Frappuccino advertisements. They delivered this information to us all while doing some not so subtle product placement of their new juice line, we had to laugh. I highly suggest you check out the 2014 Special Achievement in GIS Award Winners for more motivation.

My last night concluded with the Academic Fair. We met potential students and GIS professionals from around the country and globe. A few government employees from the country of Jordan stopped by our booth and were beyond excited about the Online GIS Training Academy…they were also pretty stoked to take some of our cool blue sunglasses home to their kids. We even had the ESRI celebs rockin blue shades.

And before I shut my trap, in case you have not heard, I want to share one of the coolest things ESRI recently unveiled: GeoNet: a forum to discuss, collaborate, and network with fellow GIS people! Log in, it’s pretty awesome.

Brittney Markle:July in San Diego is always such an exciting time of the
year. Learning the new goings on in the world of ESRI and GIS are just the tip
of the iceberg. Visualizing where and how we can apply current and new concepts
to our content is where it really interesting. Here’s a list of some of the
things I took away this that I hope can be implemented in our program to update
materials, provide resources (to student and instructors), exemplify current
applications, promote our courses (across campus!), and engage student
participation.

·If the education conference taught me one thing
it was the importance of campus & local connections. Campus wide
connections (other departments that could use GIS- History, biology, chemistry,
public health, political science, etc) as well as other local connections (community colleges,
local high schools and middle schools, etc).

·Web GIS is the future. That statement might not
be 100% accurate but it is getting big and student exposure to this world
should increase. There are a multitude of ways to apply web based mapping can
be applied to our labs. I can't wait to see how to integrate web mapping fundamentals
and tools into lab instructions and assignments.

·GIS programming is not limited to Python. I made
it a point to step out of my comfort zone and learning another programming
language, JavaScript API for ArcGIS, and man did it blow my mind! I think I
went to about 3 session on JavaScript. My favorite was a hands on lab in the
Education Conference called “Intro to programming for non-programmers”. This
lab was great and could easily be integrated in the Programming course and an
early module. I was introduced to the Developers Sandbox which I had heard of
before and honestly it scared the mess out of me. In reality it proved itself
to be a very useful resource when using JavaScript. Oh yea-- this type of
scripting language is used heavily in web mapping.

·10.3 and ArcPro- This was the big deal of the
UC. I have pages and pages of notes on both but in the end was still left
wondering to what extent ArcPro will be available to us. The beta version is
available now with the full version to release sometime in November of this
year. There will be ESRI training courses pertaining to ArcPro upon full
release. ArcGIS 10.3 is set to be released in September! ArcPro looks like it could be a lot of fun. It’s an
application that fuses together ArcMap, Catalog, Globe, and Scene... whoa!
Various capabilities include:

In
the last session I went to the speakers were joking around and one of them
asked what we thought Arc stood for. The humorous answer was “Always Right
Click”. I thought that as pretty funny and very true... and that’s the last tid
bit I have to share. I sure does feel good to purge all of that information!

Jeremy Mason: As a newcomer to GIS, I had little idea of what to expect at the UC. But once I arrived, I had an amazing revelation - these are my people! I was amazed by the sheer number of them - 16,000! I thought that I would spend most of my time in presentations to learn the tips and tricks of GIS, but I found that the UWF GIS program had already prepared me well enough that I decided to spend more of my time networking. I met some amazing people in all manifestations of the industry - from environmentalists to emergency response to regional planning, GIS is present everywhere. I also got to hang out with the (super cool) UWF GIS team! In the end, I learned that while the certificate is a good start, there's nothing like a bit of experience to make your resume shine. I got some really great leads for internships, and I'm excited to finally make my transition into the career of my dreams. Thanks UWF!

Monday, July 14, 2014

Spatial Accessibility Modeling

In this lab students examine the use of GIS for modelling spatial access to facilities and services. Students learn the basics of network analysis using the Network Analyst extension by completing a number of tutorial. Next, students work through a simple example of measuring spatial accessibility, employing straight-line distance instead of network travel distance or time. Finally, students complete a spatial accessibility analysis your network analysis skills. The specific scenario is the closure of one of the branches of a community college to determine how many potential students are affected.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Prepare data for use in network analysis

Perform typical network analysis, including service areas and closest facilities

Compare different approaches to measuring spatial access, including straight-line distance and network-based travel time

Process and summarize demographic data based on metrics for spatial accessibility, including summary tables and cumulative distribution functions

Implement a spatial accessibility model using network analysis for a given scenario

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT AWARDS

The following student was chosen for their exceptional work on the Spatial Accessibility Modeling assignment:

About Ellen: Ellen is currently a GIS Specialist with the Washoe County Assessor's Office in Reno, Nevada. Hired in September of 2013, she has really enjoyed the job so far, and accredits her confidence with GIS going into the interview to the courses taken through the UWF GIS program. When not at work or working through the labs Ellen enjoys reading Sci-Fi and driving around and camping throughout the West. Welcome to the spotlight Ellen!

What we like: Ellen completed the analysis with great attention to detail. Sound analysis steps and solid reporting of results in tabular and cartographic format. Way to go Ellen!

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

MEDS Project

In the previous week we assembled the Minimum Essential Dataset as defined by DHS for the Boston Metropolitan Statistical Area. This week we identified critical infrastructure, define associated security checkpoints, and set up clear view surveillance points in the vicinity of the Boston Marathon finish line location. We then compiled our analysis to provide useful maps for security and surveillance teams.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Create new point data

Summarize attribute data in a table

Generate a near table analysis

Explore LiDAR data using the LAS toolbar

Convert LAS Dataset to Raster

Generate Hillshade surface

Perform Viewshed analysis

Create a Line of Sight in 2D and 3D

Use ArcScene Viewer from the 3D Analyst Toolbar

Compile and present results for real world problem solving

Provide synopsis of maps, the overall processes of creation, and potential applications.

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT AWARDS

The following student was chosen for their exceptional work on the MEDS Project assignment:

About Brandon: Brandon has been in the GIS field for almost three years now. Recently, he made the move from the public sector to the private sector. Formerly, he was a GIS Specialist for Bernards Township in New Jersey. He spends most of his time maintaining existing shapefiles for the municipality, performing system administration of GeoClinet, capturing data points in the field, and training other staff in GIS related software and hardware. He recently left this position when a new opportunity came along, and now he words for a GIS software company that specializes in making municipal management software that integrates GIS data directly into it. When asked if he would describe himself as more of a raster or a vector, Brandon said that it would vary by the day. Sometimes he can feel precise and totally accurate in his work, like a vector, and other days he isn't so precise, but accurate enough to make it look pretty, like a raster. Overall, he thinks he is more of a vector though. He feels knowing exactly where you stand on something is better than having a general idea.

What we like: In map 1, Brandon did a great job employing and stylizing with the military template. He also did an excellent job highlighting important information of the map while subtly yet effectively displaying necessary background information. The inset maps are nicely done; it is obvious where on the map the finish line inset is referencing and the locator inset provides an appropriate geographic reference at county level.

In map 2, he did a great job utilizing the the Line of Sight tool to pinpoint surveillance locations. The Surveillance points and important associated information such as optimal observation height are displayed clearly on top of the orthoimagery and viewshed layers in one data frame. The LOS profile references one of the furthest and more obstructed observation points to provide valuable information to the surveillance team. The locator inset map is very effective at the city level and with the addition of a couple major roads. The supplemental text throughout the map does a great job guiding the user through the information.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Surface Interpolation

Whether you work with regions, individual sites, or structural remains, archaeologists have traditionally had a need to identify and quantify patterns between samples. Surface interpolation is a common and widespread task that GIS analysts perform and successful archaeological interpretation hinges upon the ability to do this carefully and critically.

About Jeff: Jeff is a senior at UWF working on a B.A. in Maritime Studies. Originally from Dearborn Michigan, he currently lives in Mulberry/Lakeland Florida; located in Central Florida. Jeff spent 8 years (1988-1996) in the U.S. Navy as an Aerographer, which he defines as a fancy naval term meaning meteorologist. During that career he enjoyed working exclusively with a computer called T.E.S.S. (tactical environmental support system). It dealt with loads of maps, graphs and charts, so the GIS program seems like a logical fit for him. Jeff’s GIS goal is to focus on the archaeology track and combine this knowledge with Maritime Studies. Welcome to the spotlight Jeff!

What we like: One of the nice things about Jeff’s presentation of his results is that he split Panama and Ecuador into two posters. He also assigned a different color symbology to each of the interpolation techniques. You may notice this choice stayed relatively consistent between the two posters, with Kriging and Spline illustrated with the same color ramp. This choice helps to facilitate reader interpretation. Well done Jeff!